Why ESAT and Mr.

Messay Mokonnon called Genocide

on the people of Tigray?
(Affirmative Article: A voice to the voiceless people from the Organization of Tigrians
Network for the Affirmative Action (OTNAA))
The current Several researches suggest that the present modern day of northern
Ethiopia (Tigray region) and Eritrea previously called the Kingdom of Aksum
(Abyssina) is described as one of the four greatest powers in the world at the time
from the 1st to the 7th centuries AD even though very little is known about it. 2
As a civilization it had a profound impact upon the people of Egypt, Southern Arabia,
Europe and Asia, all of whom were visitors to its shores, and in some cases were
residents. 2 It was a meeting point of religions, including Christianity, Judaism and,
later, Islam and it continuous to be the home of several religious and spiritual
practices in an inclusive manner. It is a place where the birth and the real essence of
democracy and human right emerges as a society, expands and develops to the
entire globe through human migration to all parts of the planet. For instance, during,
the two Migrations of Muslims to Abyssinia (A.D. 615-616), the Christian king of that
period welcomed the Muslim refugees from Makkah into his kingdom. He gave them
sanctuary, and they enjoyed peace, security and freedom of worship under his aegis.
In human history, this is the exemplary human right protection provided before, the
1951 legal document of the Geneva Convention was defined. 5
A Parisian writer argues that the current place of Tigray-Ethiopia including Eritrea
was a major naval and trading power that ruled beyond the current political map of
the Horn Africa region from about 400 BCE into the 10th century. It had its own
coinage and had written its own scripts, known as Geez that led to the birth of
Tigrigna and then Amharic languages during the Aksumite Kingdom, even though no
histories or descriptions have been found to make this Unique African wealth and
civilization come alive in the entire continent today. In fact, the UNESCO added the
archaeological sites of the present Tigray region to its list of World Heritage Sites in
1980 due to their historic values.
On the contrary, Mr. Messay Mokonon has called a genocide attack to such civil
population,which are the indigenous people of Tigray-Ethiopia in his satellite TV
called ESAT on 4 September 2016.1 He argues that in Ethiopia there is Tigray
colonization and insights a vigorous killing propaganda campaign so as to drag ethnic
war in Ethiopia. He calls a war of 5 million versus 95 million saying that the only
solution is through drying the sea (Tigray people) in order to catch the fish (TPLF).
He also calls the current ruling party of Ethiopia as Tigray government that not
evidence based and completely out of reality as it includes different elites from all
nations and nationalities of Ethiopia.
The OTNAA Global Executive Committee has asked the questions: Why are Messay
Mokonnon and ESAT-media calling genocide over a peaceful people of TigrayEthiopia? Where are they living? What nationality do they have? Ethiopians or
Americans? For what reason and what is their interest in Ethiopia, war and
fragmentation or peace and unity of all the nations and nationalities of Ethiopia? Are
they fighting the bad governance and corruption using an ethnic war? Would it be

possible and effective to overthrow a government like this from distance? Are they
sniffing to declare war on the people of Ethiopia and make the fate of the peaceful
country like the current Syria? Why they dont broadcast their information in a
partial, neutral, independent and human manner? What is the hidden agenda behind
for igniting ethnic conflict and call for genocide? In fact, it could be argued that all
these questions should be critically analyzed and answered by all peace seeking
Ethiopian nations and nationalities at local and international level regardless of their
political stand and affiliation to the current ruling party.
Consequently, the Organization of Tigrians Network for the Affirmative Action
(OTNAA) concludes and takes this genocide call as the worst evil criminal act of
modern man era. OTNAA is an international non-governmental organization that
works in Human right and Assistance programs, Education and Human
Empowerment Programs, Promotion of Intercultural Communication & Technology
(PICT) with evidence based Research and Development programs. Its Global Virtual
Head Office is located in the capital city of the Tigray Regional State, Mekelle and
where as its global coordination office in Geneva-Switzerland. It has six regional
offices working at different sectors in a unified and well-integrated manner; Middle
East, Africa, Asia, Europe, Americas and Australia.
Well, the OTNAA Global Directorates of Directors has analyzed this genocide call
on the people of Tigray in Ethiopia by the ESAT media based in USA and has come
into a conclusion that it is totally against the policy, obligation, duty and protocol of
any media. It highly violates, the fundamental rights of indigenous people, The 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the principles of journalism ethics,
good practice and applicable standards. It has led into consequences of more than
20,000 innocent Tigrian-Ethiopians forced displacements and another significant
number of forced migrations to the Northern Sudan. A significant civil persons,
children and women of Tigrian origin Ethiopians that were living in a peaceful and
integrated manner in the different parts of Ethiopia have become victim of such
irresponsible and illegal official genocide call over the people of Tigray.
While the definition of genocide can be debated technically, politically and legally, the
Genocide Convention makes clear that the crimes committed by Mr. Mokonnon and
ESAT media are in fact clearly and official called genocide against the civil population
of Tigray. Under Article Two of the Convention, Genocide means any of the
following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b)
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately
inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births
within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another
group. Among the Genocide violations which are listed here in a, b and c are
already committed by Mr. Messay Mokonon and ESAT media center based in USA.
Furthermore, this media called ESAT and Mr. Messay Mokonnon dont make a
difference between the people of Tigray and the current ruling party TPLF and hence
they are committing crimes against humanity officially in the face of international
community. This media is attacking systematically one ethnic civilian population that

is struggling to survive on its daily lives in particular and not engaged in any political
interventions with the ruling party in general.
This is why the Organization of Tigrians Network for the Affirmative Action
(OTNAA) sees this genocide call on the indigenous people of Tigray-Ethiopia as a
serious human right violation and condemns it very strongly with all its regional
offices in one unified voice. OTNAA reminds how history teaches us the importance
of media broadcasting in the mobilization of people to kill each other through ethnic
cleansing. For instance, its a great historical shame that the international medias
didnt condemn such strategic crimes against humanity in Ethiopia. On the other
hand, the failure of the media to fully report on the genocide that claimed an
estimated 800,000 lives in Rwanda during a 100-day period in 1994, made it easy for
Western governments to ignore the crisis that they preferred not to acknowledge
until long after it ended. Until today, why no action had been taken to halt the
broadcasts that were promoting the worst of all genocide crimes in Rwanda is not
clear and no body has taken the responsibility.
Last but not least, the OTNAA Global Directorates of Directors would like to ask
Mr Messay Mokonnon and ESAT media to make an official excuse for the people of
Tigray-Ethiopia for such evil, shameful and criminal act of genocide call to innocent
civilians and indigenous people in Ethiopia. Furthermore, OTNAA calls to the
international human right agencies, organizations, both at local and global level, to
strongly condemn such irresponsible and serious problems of genocide call made by
ESAT and Mr. Messay Mokonnon.
The OTNAA, global leadership also calls to the USA government to warn such kind
of media and individuals that officially violate the rule of law and universal human
right refuging in the country where respecting the rule of law and human rights are
on its national center of foreign policy and its internal top priority policy practice.
The OTNAA would like to call to all the Ethiopian people, nations and nationalities
to be stay united, protecting its culture of democracy, social cohesion, peaceful
integration not to be misguided and misinformed by such kind of immature,
irresponsible and unaccountable media that called genocide from a foreign country.
Furthermore, the OTNAA would continue its effort to make this person called Mr.
Mesay Mokonnon and the ESAT media accountable for their such shameful deeds
and it would be much more pleased to discuss this with any concerned bodies at a
global level so that such evil and criminal acts wouldnt be repeated in the future
from any media corporations or centers.
The Organization of Tigrians Network for the Affirmative Action (OTNAA) Global
Directorates of Directors, Geneva-International
October 2016

OTNAA

References
1) ESAT calling Genocide attack on Tigrians: "Dry up the sea in order to catch
the fish." Published on Sep 4, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvQ6jC5t7KE
2) The British Museum: The wealth of Africa: The kingdom of Aksum Teachers
notes,
https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/KingdomOfAksum_TeachersNotes.pdf
3) THE MEDIA AND THE RWANDA GENOCIDE: edited by Allan Thompson
With a Statement by Kofi Annan: Published by International Development
Research Centre
http://www.internews.org/sites/default/files/resources/TheMedia%26TheRwanda
Genocide.pdf
4) Universal Declaration of Human Right (UDHR, 1948)
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf
5) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The Migration to Abyssinia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_to_Abyssinia

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